Poly(oxymethylene) dimethyl ethers (OME) show promising fuel properties enabling drop-in into the existing infrastructure, especially as an alternative or additive to diesel fuel leading to a significant reduction in local...

In this study, a holistic well-to-wheel (WtW) life cycle assessment of the production and utilization of short oligomers of OME3–5 as produced via a Power-to-Liquid (PtL) pathway has been conducted.

Concerning oxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OME), this work utilises a hybrid process model based on methanol (MeOH) and its partially selective conversion to anhydrous formaldehyde (FA), which in turn is used as the feed for OME synthesis.

An efficient, biphasic route towards oxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OMEs) allowing for catalyst recycling and reuse is presented (OMEs=CH 3 (À OCH 2 À ) n OÀ CH 3 , n = 3-5). OMEs are an interesting novel class of non-toxic, diesel-like synthetic fuels with soot-free combustion properties. A solution of commercial OMe 3 + BF 4 À in the ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methylimadazolium tetrafluoroborate acts as the immobilized catalyst. Upon addition of dimethoxymethane (OME 1 ) and anhydrous formaldehyde (FA) very pure OMEs form in the upper phase of the biphasic mixture. In the lower IL-phase, the catalyst remains immobilized. After phase separation and removal of the top OME layer, the catalytically active IL-phase is reusable for at least ten times without loss of activity and selectivity.Climate change and air pollution are two of the most critical health and sustainability challenges facing society today. They are also closely related: the major sources of CO 2 emissions are the most significant sources of air pollution. So it would seem only logical to seek joint solutions to these two problems. [1] Amongst others, the mobility sector makes a huge contribution to CO 2 emission (ca. 23 %). [2] This sector could be reduced drastically by substituting conventional fossil-based fuels by sustainable synthetic fuels, which are produced on the basis of CO 2 and H 2 . In this context oxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OMEs) with the general formula CH 3 (À OCH 2 À ) n OÀ CH 3 (n = 3-5) have diesel-like properties, are suited for the substitution of diesel and are classified as nontoxic. [3][4][5] Furthermore, based on the lack of covalent CÀ C-bonds and the high oxygen content, OMEs have soot-free combustion properties and can reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) significantly. [4,6] In addition, Hank et al. elaborated in a well-to-wheel analysis a potential reduction of CO 2 emissions of up to 86 % by using OMEs instead of diesel fuel. [7] However, the diesel consumption is enormous (e. g. 38.7 Mt in Germany in 2017), [8] whereas the largest OMEproduction plants produce 400 kt a À 1 and an optimized sustainable and technically viable OME production route is still lacking. [9] Conventional OME-syntheses are differentiated into aqueous and anhydrous syntheses. The aqueous route starts from methanol (MeOH) and aqueous formaldehyde (FA) solution, whereas anhydrous synthesis routes typically start from a FA-source (e. g. 1,3,5-trioxane, TRI; para-FA) and dimethoxymethane (OME 1 ) or dimethyl ether (DME). [10,11,12] The easily available educts MeOH and aqueous FA seemingly favor the aqueous route. However, the presence of water produces a large amount of side products (ca. 65 %), the separation of which requires about a third of the OME 3-5 energy content. [9,13] Instead, the avoidance of water in the anhydrous synthesis route provides relatively pure OME-mixtures. Yet, conventional anhydrous syntheses require the use of very energy-intensively synthesized anhydrous TRI, [11,14,15] largely increasing the CO 2footprint o...

A naturally inspired non-Stochastic Global Optimiser is used to describe the synthesis of oxymethylene ethers.

Sector coupling remains a crucial measure to achieve climate change mitigation targets. Hydrogen and Power-to-X (PtX) products are recognized as major levers to allow the boosting of renewable energy capacities and the consequent use of green electrons in different sectors. In this work, the challenges presented by the PtX processes are addressed and different process intensification (PI) strategies and their potential to overcome these challenges are reviewed for ammonia (NH3), dimethyl ether (DME) and oxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OME) as three exemplary, major PtX products. PI approaches in this context offer on the one hand the maximum utilization of valuable renewable feedstock and on the other hand simpler production processes. For the three discussed processes a compelling strategy for efficient and ultimately maintenance-free chemical synthesis is presented by integrating unit operations to overcome thermodynamic limitations, and in best cases eliminate the recycle loops. The proposed intensification processes offer a significant reduction of energy consumption and provide an interesting perspective for the future development of PtX technologies.

OME have diesel fuel like properties with almost soot-free combustion, which can enable a reduction of nitrogen oxides. This makes them promising candidates for internal combustion engines as blends or...

Combining Power‐to‐X (PtX) processes with high temperature heat pumps (HTHP) can significantly increase their energy efficiency. Evaluating the example of oxymethylene ethers (OME) production from H2 via H2O electrolysis and captured CO2 from air shows that by upgrading waste heat streams using HTHP, a process overall energy efficiency of higher than 61 % can be achieved compared to 30 % in conventional integrated processes. Thereby, the waste heat stream from H2O electrolysis already covers the low temperature heat demand for CO2 capture via direct air capture, not only for OME but also for various PtX products. Importantly, a significant lever for the energy efficiency enhancement is the consideration of other low temperature heat‐demanding sectors. High overall process energy efficiencies and the electrification of the industry are key aspects towards a sustainable mobility sector.